No charges yet in firefighter DUI case

Updated 6:25 pm, Wednesday, July 3, 2013

San Francisco prosecutors told police to do more investigating of a case in which a city firefighter was arrested for alleged drunken driving and hit-and-run before they decide whether to file charges, a spokesman said Wednesday.

Michael Quinn, 43, a 23-year veteran who has been suspended without pay, was arrested after a crash late Saturday at Fifth and Howard streets in which a motorcyclist was seriously hurt. Quinn, who works at Station 1 on Folsom Street, was driving a ladder truck to what turned out to be a false alarm.

Officials say Quinn stopped the rig but then disappeared after being told that he would have to undergo a drug and alcohol test. He showed up two hours later at the station and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of felony drunken driving and hit-and-run.

Alex Bastian, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, would not explain why prosecutors had rejected filing charges at this point. He said only that the district attorney's office is working with police to learn more about the crash.